Cambridge East: 10,000 homes and 9,000 jobs on Marshall's former airfield. What it means for buyers along the A14 in Huntingdonshire.

Homes England and The Hill Group completed the acquisition of Cambridge Airport from the Marshall Group on 3 June 2026, in a deal that unlocks 700 acres on Cambridge's eastern fringe for more than 10,000 new homes and 9,000 jobs. The site, known as Cambridge East, has been operated by Marshall Group for aerospace maintenance work for decades; the group will relocate its operations by mid-2029 before construction begins.

For property buyers along Huntingdonshire's A14 corridor, the announcement is the clearest signal yet that the Cambridge employment catchment is expanding eastward, and that villages from Fenstanton to Brampton remain firmly inside it. The Cambridge Growth Company, a Homes England subsidiary, is masterplanning the project alongside The Hill Group.

What does Cambridge East involve?

The development is intended to create a new urban quarter for Cambridge on the former airport site. According to the GOV.UK press release published on 3 June 2026, the plans include:

• ·More than 10,000 homes across all tenures
• ·At least 3 million sq ft of commercial space supporting approximately 9,000 jobs
• ·Schools, healthcare facilities and connected green space
• ·A potential Cambridge East railway station, subject to third-party funding, on the East West Rail alignment
• ·A regional construction skills training hub

Work on the first 500 homes is expected to start in 2029, when Marshall Group vacates the site. Full build-out will take well over a decade. The acquisition price was approximately £350 million, according to trade press reporting.

Which Huntingdonshire villages are in the commute picture?

Cambridge East sits at the eastern edge of the city, off the A1303 approach from Newmarket. Coming from Huntingdon and the wider patch on the A14, you enter Cambridge from the west and would travel through or around the city centre to reach the eastern fringe. That adds minutes to a commute compared with a central Cambridge employer, but it remains realistic for most of the corridor.

The villages most directly in the picture are those with straightforward A14 access to Cambridge: Fenstanton, Hilton, St Ives, Houghton, Hemingford Abbots, Hemingford Grey, Godmanchester, Hartford and Brampton. A1 south villages (Perry, Grafham, Ellington) can reach Cambridge via the A428 but add journey time; useful for the right employer, longer for this site specifically. Far-west and north-east fen villages are not well-placed for a daily Cambridge East commute.

What does it mean for property demand in the corridor?

Nine thousand new jobs do not materialise overnight. The phased build-out means employment at Cambridge East will grow gradually from 2029 onwards, and the commercial space itself will be absorbed over many years. But the direction of travel has been clear for some time: the Cambridge economy is expanding, and the A14 corridor has been the natural home for people who work in Cambridge and want more space, a different character or a lower price point than the city offers.

The Cambridge East announcement reinforces that. A new employment cluster on the city's eastern edge, with its own potential railway station, makes the corridor more attractive, not less. On the ground in Brampton, Huntingdon and the Hemingfords, buyer interest tied to Cambridge employers has been a consistent thread through 2025 and into 2026. You can read more about what the defence and technology employment expansion at nearby Wyton means for the same corridor in our Project FAIRFAX article from 4 June 2026.

Should you buy, sell or wait?

The development will not move prices this week or this month. A groundbreaking three years away is background context, not a catalyst. What matters for buyers right now is today's interest rates, today's stock levels and today's seller pricing. If you are buying along the A14 corridor with a Cambridge employment anchor in mind, this development supports the thesis. Cambridge is not going to shrink.

For sellers in the corridor, a free valuation from Villager Homes gives you the clearest read on what buyers are actually paying right now, before any of those 10,000 homes are built. If you are thinking about buying in Huntingdon, St Ives, Fenstanton or any of the A14 corridor villages with Cambridge employment in mind, our estate agents in Huntingdon know every property currently on the market in the patch. Call us on 01480 436161 or drop a line to hello@villagerhomes.co.uk.